Spot
Spot was Data's pet cat while he served aboard the and -E. Data once wrote a poem about his pet, entitled "Ode to Spot". Spot was a relatively fickle cat. She only took to Data and Reginald Barclay. In 2369, while taking care of Spot, Commander Riker was forced to go to the sickbay when she scratched his face. The next year, Geordi La Forge borrowed Spot, since he wanted to see what having a pet cat was like. They did not get along well, either. A short time later, Data unsuccessfully tried to train Spot. Data made 221 different formulas of food for Spot, many of which Spot did not care for. Later that year, Spot became pregnant by one of the twelve male cats aboard the Enterprise-D at that time. In 2370, Spot played an integral part in saving the crew of the Enterprise-D. A synthetic T-cell became airborne and infected the crew, causing inactive parts of their genetic code to activate and essentially "de-evolve" them. Data and Picard returned from an away mission to the chaotic situation. They made it to Data's quarters, where Spot transformed into an iguana. Her kittens, just recently born, were unaffected, due to the natural defense mechanisms in the placenta which protects infants from the mother's diseases while in the womb. This led to Data develop a cure using amniotic fluid from Nurse Ogawa, who was also pregnant. In 2371, Spot survived the destruction of the Enterprise-D. Data, via his newly-installed emotion chip, cried tears of joy over Spot's survival. In 2379, Spot was aboard the Enterprise-E with Data. Appendices Appearances * ** ** ** (mentioned) ** ** ** (mentioned) ** ** ** ** * * * (mentioned) Background Spot first appeared in as a male, long-haired Somali cat. In subsequent appearances, Spot was seen as a more common American shorthair of the same color, but still as a male. It was only in the seventh season episode "Force of Nature" that Spot was first referred to as she. In , she even gave birth. One might speculate that Data had owned more than one Spot, and it is sometimes joked that Spot is a shapeshifter. A scene that was cut from revealed that Worf was left to care for Spot. In the scene, Worf and La Forge were cleaning out Data's quarters. Worf heard a noise, and looked up. Immediately after, Spot jumped into his arms. Worf stated that he "was not a cat person." La Forge then said, "You are now." This scene, along with other deleted scenes, were added as extras on the Special Edition DVD. It may be important to note that in the seventh season episode , while Data was relieved of duty, he asked Worf to care for Spot. Spot may have gained an affinity for Worf then, even though he sneezed on her. While the character of Data loved cats, Brent Spiner is noted as having a dislike for the creature. In the commentary of , it was stated that he did not want to go back for Spot. The character of Spot was added after crew discovered several cats living under the sound stage. Spot is the second of four recurring pets; the others were Livingston, Chester, and Porthos. External link * The Spot Fan Page Category:Felines de:Spot nl:Spot